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The United States and Iran made progress in a second round of high-stakes talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme on Saturday and agreed to meet again next week, both sides said.The Oman-mediated talks in Rome lasted about four hours, Iranian state television and a senior US official said. Tehran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi declared it a “good meeting” that yielded progress.”This time we managed to reach a better understanding on a series of principles and goals,” he told Iranian state TV.The senior US official said in a statement, “Today, in Rome over four hours in our second round of talks, we made very good progress in our direct and indirect discussions.”Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the parties  “agreed to resume indirect talks at a technical level over the next few days and subsequently continue at the level of two senior negotiators next Saturday”, April 26.The US official confirmed another meeting next week but did not specify which day or where.Oman said the third round would be in Muscat, returning to the site of the first talks a week ago.Those were the first discussions at such a high level between the foes since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear accord in 2018.Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons — an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes.After Saturday’s talks, Oman’s foreign ministry said Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had agreed to keep negotiating.The talks, it said, “aim to seal a fair, enduring and binding deal which will ensure Iran (is) completely free of nuclear weapons and sanctions, and maintaining its ability to develop peaceful nuclear energy”.Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said the talks were “gaining momentum and now even the unlikely is possible”.Baqaei said the delegations had been “in two different rooms” at the Omani ambassador’s residence, with Albusaidi passing messages between them.Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.After returning to office in January, Trump revived his “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions against Iran.In March he wrote to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging renewed nuclear talks while also warning of military action if diplomacy failed.”I’m not in a rush” to use the military option, Trump said Thursday. “I think Iran wants to talk.”On Friday, Araghchi said Iran “observed a degree of seriousness” on the US side during the first round but questioned their “intentions and motivations”.- ‘Crucial stage’ -In an interview published Wednesday by French newspaper Le Monde, the United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Iran was “not far” from possessing a nuclear bomb, noting a day later that talks were “at a very crucial stage”.During Trump’s first term, Washington withdrew from the 2015 accord between Tehran and world powers that offered Iran relief from international sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.Tehran complied with the agreement for a year after Trump’s withdrawal before scaling back its compliance.Araghchi was a negotiator of the 2015 deal. His US counterpart, Witkoff, is a real estate magnate Trump has also tasked with talks on Ukraine.Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 percent limit in the deal but still below the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged European countries to decide whether to trigger the “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 agreement, which would automatically reinstate UN sanctions on Iran over its non-compliance.The option to trigger the mechanism expires in October.Iran has previously warned it could withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the mechanism were triggered.- ‘Non-negotiable’ -Analysts had said the United States would push to include discussions over Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its support for militants in the Middle East.But Araghchi said Saturday the US side had “not raised any issues unrelated to the nuclear topic so far”.He said earlier this week Iran’s right to enrich uranium was “non-negotiable”, after Witkoff called for its complete halt. Witkoff had previously demanded only that Iran return to the ceiling set by the 2015 deal.On Friday US ally Israel affirmed its commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, saying it had a “clear course of action” to do so — a stance Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Saturday.”I will not give up on this, I will not let go of it, and I will not retreat from it — not even by a millimetre,” he said.

The fate of a US-Israeli hostage who Hamas said had featured in an Israeli truce proposal remains unknown, the group said on Saturday, separately releasing a video of another captive alive.The body of a guard assigned to the American-Israeli, Edan Alexander, had been recovered from the site of a recent Israeli strike, Hamas’s armed wing the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement.”But the fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” the militants said.Hamas on Thursday signalled its rejection of the plan, which would have involved Alexander.A senior Hamas official had on Monday said Israel proposed a 45-day ceasefire in exchange for the release of 10 living hostages, the first of whom would have been Alexander.He is among the dozens of living and dead captives still held in Gaza, 18 months after Hamas’s war with Israel began, and weeks into a renewed Israeli offensive that rescuers in Gaza said killed 54 people on Saturday.Alexander had also featured in a proposal one month earlier from the United States Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.On Tuesday, Hamas announced it had “lost contact” with the militant unit holding Alexander following an Israeli air strike on their location in the Gaza Strip.”We are trying to protect all the prisoners (hostages) and preserve their lives despite the brutality of the aggression… but their lives are in danger due to the criminal bombing operations carried out by the enemy army,” Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, said in a statement.The Brigades on April 12 released a video showing Alexander alive, in which he criticised the Israeli government for failing to secure his release.Alexander was serving as a soldier in an elite infantry unit on the Gaza border when Palestinian militants abducted him during their October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 58 remain in captivity in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that he believed “we can bring our hostages home without surrendering to Hamas’s dictates”, adding the military campaign in Gaza was “at a critical stage”.- Soldier killed -Israel resumed its intense air strikes and ground offensive across Gaza on March 18 amid disagreement over the next phase in a ceasefire that lasted two months.Rejecting a new truce proposal, Hamas’s chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya on Thursday said the Islamist group sought a comprehensive deal including “halting the war” and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.An Israeli pullout and a “permanent end to the war” would also have occurred — as outlined by then-US president Joe Biden — under a second phase of the ceasefire that had begun on January 19 but later collapsed.Since Israeli forces resumed their offensive, at least 1,783 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.On Saturday, Israel announced its first military fatality in the territory since the ceasefire’s collapse.Also on Saturday, the Al-Qassam Brigades released a video showing an Israeli hostage alive in Gaza.Israeli campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum identified the hostage as Elkana Bohbot, who was abducted from a music festival during the October 7 attack.In the footage, Bohbot is seen speaking in Hebrew into a landline telephone, urging a friend to take his wife to the White House to meet US President Donald Trump in an effort to secure his release.It is the third such video of Bohbot, a Colombian-Israeli, since March 24.The hostage forum released a statement from his family who were “shocked and devastated” after the video release.”We are extremely concerned about Elkana’s physical and mental condition — everyone can see it,” the family said. Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday night in a regular ritual calling for a deal for the hostages’ release, a stance reiterated by the forum, which accused Netanyahu of having “no plan” for securing the captives’ freedom.”There is one clear, feasible, and urgent solution that can be achieved now: reach a deal that will bring everyone home — even if it means stopping the fighting,” the hostage forum said in a statement.Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,281 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, while Israel’s military offensive since then has killed at least 51,157 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to data from both sides.

The United States and Iran concluded a second round of high-stakes talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme on Saturday, agreeing to meet again in a week for further discussions.The Oman-mediated talks in Rome lasted about four hours, Iranian state television reported, with Tehran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi declaring it a “good meeting” that yielded progress.”This time we managed to reach a better understanding on a series of principles and goals,” he told Iranian state TV.Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the parties had “agreed to resume indirect talks at a technical level over the next few days and subsequently continue at the level of two senior negotiators next Saturday”, April 26.Oman said the third round would be in Muscat, returning to the site of the first talks a week ago.Those were the first discussions at such a high level between the foes since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear accord in 2018.Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons — an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes.After Saturday’s talks, Oman’s foreign ministry said Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had agreed to keep negotiating.The talks, it said, “aim to seal a fair, enduring and binding deal which will ensure Iran (is) completely free of nuclear weapons and sanctions, and maintaining its ability to develop peaceful nuclear energy”.Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said the talks were “gaining momentum and now even the unlikely is possible”.Baqaei said the delegations had been “in two different rooms” at the Omani ambassador’s residence, with Albusaidi passing messages between them.Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.After returning to office in January, Trump revived his “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions against Iran.In March he wrote to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging renewed nuclear talks while also warning of military action if diplomacy failed.”I’m not in a rush” to use the military option, Trump said Thursday. “I think Iran wants to talk.”On Friday, Araghchi said Iran “observed a degree of seriousness” on the US side during the first round but questioned their “intentions and motivations”.- ‘Crucial stage’ -In an interview published Wednesday by French newspaper Le Monde, the United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Iran was “not far” from possessing a nuclear bomb, noting a day later that talks were “at a very crucial stage”.During Trump’s first term, Washington withdrew from the 2015 accord between Tehran and world powers that offered Iran relief from international sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.Tehran complied with the agreement for a year after Trump’s withdrawal before scaling back its compliance.Araghchi was a negotiator of the 2015 deal. His US counterpart, Witkoff, is a real estate magnate Trump has also tasked with talks on Ukraine.Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 percent limit in the deal but still below the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged European countries to decide whether to trigger the “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 agreement, which would automatically reinstate UN sanctions on Iran over its non-compliance.The option to trigger the mechanism expires in October.Iran has previously warned it could withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the mechanism were triggered.- ‘Non-negotiable’ -Analysts had said the United States would push to include discussions over Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its support for militants in the Middle East.But Araghchi said Saturday the US side had “not raised any issues unrelated to the nuclear topic so far”.He said earlier this week Iran’s right to enrich uranium was “non-negotiable”, after Witkoff called for its complete halt. Witkoff had previously demanded only that Iran return to the ceiling set by the 2015 deal.On Friday US ally Israel affirmed its commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, saying it had a “clear course of action” to do so — a stance Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Saturday.”I will not give up on this, I will not let go of it, and I will not retreat from it — not even by a millimetre,” he said.

The United States and Iran on Saturday resumed high-stakes talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, a week after an initial round of discussions that both sides described as “constructive”.The Oman-mediated talks in Rome began at around 0930 GMT, according to a US official and Iranian state television.Images broadcast by Iranian state television showed Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arriving in the Italian capital, with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff also set to participate in the talks.Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the “two delegations are in two different rooms” at the Omani ambassador’s residence, with Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi passing messages between them.The meeting comes a week after the two sides had what Iran called indirect talks in Muscat. Those were the first discussions at such a high level between the foes since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear accord in 2018.Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons — an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes.Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.Following his return to office in January, Trump revived his “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions against Iran.In March he sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging renewed nuclear talks while also warning of military action if diplomacy failed.”I’m not in a rush” to use the military option, Trump said Thursday. “I think Iran wants to talk.”On Friday, Araghchi said Iran “observed a degree of seriousness” on the US side during the first round but questioned their “intentions and motivations”.In a social media post early Saturday, Baqaei said Tehran was “aware that it is not a smooth path but we take every step with open eyes, relying also on the past experiences”.The leader of mediator Oman, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, is due in Moscow in the coming days, according to his office and the Kremlin, which said he would discuss with President Vladimir Putin “current questions on the international and regional agenda” and other issues.- ‘Crucial stage’ -In an interview published on Wednesday by French newspaper Le Monde, the United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Iran was “not far” from possessing a nuclear bomb.During Trump’s first term, Washington withdrew from the 2015 accord between Tehran and world powers which offered Iran relief from international sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.Tehran complied with the agreement for a year after Trump’s withdrawal before scaling back its compliance.Araghchi was a negotiator of the 2015 deal. His US counterpart in Rome, Witkoff, is a real estate magnate Trump has also tasked with talks on Ukraine.Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 limit in the deal but still below the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged European countries to decide on whether to trigger the “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 agreement, which would automatically reinstate UN sanctions on Iran over its non-compliance.The option to trigger the mechanism expires in October this year.Iran has previously warned it could withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the mechanism were triggered.Grossi, who met Iranian officials in Tehran this week, said the US and Iran were “at a very crucial stage” in the talks and “don’t have much time” to secure a deal.- ‘Non-negotiable’ -Iranian officials have insisted that the talks focus only on its nuclear programme and lifting of sanctions.Araghchi said a deal with the US was “likely” if Washington refrained from “making unreasonable and unrealistic demands”, without elaborating.Analysts had said the United States would push to include discussions over Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its support for militants in the Middle East.Araghchi said Iran’s right to enrich uranium was “non-negotiable”, after Witkoff called for its complete halt. Witkoff had previously demanded only that Iran return to the ceiling set by the 2015 deal.On Friday US ally Israel affirmed its commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, saying it had a “clear course of action” to prevent this.Khamenei on Tuesday said Iranians should not pin hopes on progress in the negotiations which “may or may not yield results”.

With food scarce in the besieged and war-battered Gaza Strip, some desperate families have turned to eating sea turtles as a rare source of protein.Once the shell has been removed, the meat is cut up, boiled and cooked in a mix of onion, pepper, tomato and spices.”The children were afraid of the turtle, and we told them it tasted as delicious as veal,” said Majida Qanan, keeping an eye on the chunks of red meat simmering in a pot over a wood fire.”Some of them ate it, but others refused.”For lack of a better alternative, this is the third time 61-year-old Qanan has prepared a turtle-based meal for her family who were displaced and now live in a tent in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza largest city.After 18 months of devastating war and an Israeli blockade on aid since March 2, the United Nations has warned of a dire humanitarian situation for the 2.4 million inhabitants of the Palestinian territory.Israel has accused Hamas of diverting aid, which the Palestinian militant group denies.The heads of 12 major aid organisations warned on Thursday that “famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts” of the territory.”There are no open crossings and there is nothing in the market,” said Qanan.”When I buy two small bags (of vegetables) for 80 shekels ($22), there is no meat,” she added.Sea turtles are internationally protected as an endangered species, but those caught in Gaza fishermen’s nets are used for food. Qanan mixes the meat with flour and vinegar to wash it, before rinsing and boiling it in an old metal pot.- ‘Never expected to eat a turtle’ -“We never expected to eat a turtle,” fisherman Abdel Halim Qanan said.”When the war started, there was a food shortage. There is no food. So (turtle meat) is an alternative for other sources of protein. There is no meat, poultry or vegetables.”The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned that Gaza is facing its most severe humanitarian crisis since the war began on October 7, 2023, triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel.Fighting has raged in Gaza since then, pausing only twice — recently during a two-month ceasefire between January 19 and March 17, and in a previous one-week halt in late November 2023.The World Health Organization’s regional chief Hanan Balkhy said in June that some Gazans were so desperate that they were eating animal food, grass, and drinking sewage water.Hamas on Thursday accused Israel of using “starvation as a weapon” against Gazans by blocking aid supplies.Fisherman Qanan said the turtles were killed in the “halal” method, in accordance with Islamic rites. “If there was no famine, we would not eat it and leave it, but we want to compensate for the lack of protein,” he said.